It Means You're Not Stupid
by it's a duck pond
Summary: Theon and Robb as modern day high school students.


**It's been a while since I last posted anything. But here's this! A GoT hs!au. It's short and feels incomplete, but I intended for it to be something of a preview. Hopefully I'll actually get around to working on this one. I feel like I messed up the characters a bit, but I was having trouble getting Theon's snark across without dialogue, so hopefully I'll be able to improve on that in later installments. Advice on that would be greatly appreciated.  
><strong>

**I don't own any of these characters**

Robb mustered up every last scrap of will power he possessed and turned the dial back, past the red bar, past the blue bar, until the stream of hot water stopped. Almost immediately he began to shiver, so he stepped out of the shower and wrapped himself in a thin blue bath towel. The mirror above the sink had fogged over, but instead of wiping away the condensation Robb decided to forego checking his reflection. Instead he simply toweled off, dressed, and raced downstairs.

Mornings in the Stark household were hectic to say the least. In the kitchen it was impossible to hear one's self think. Sansa and Arya were shouting at each other and Rickon was shouting at no one in particular. Their mother was shouting at everyone. It is seven o'clock, so their father was already at work, but he'd packed the kids' lunches. The five brown paper bags were lined up on the counter, each one with a name sharpied on it.

Robb slathered a slice of bread with peanut butter and escaped to the living room where the sounds of his family preparing for the day were slightly muffled. Bran was there already, sitting cross-legged on the floor and staring intently at the television as though in a trance. Robb wolfed down his toast and dashed back upstairs to brush his teeth. That taken care of, he grabbed his lunch, kissed his mother goodbye, and set out for school.

He was the oldest in his family and the only one who attends Westeros High School, aside from Jon, their half-brother who was a year older than Robb and lived with his mother most of the time. Some weekends he stayed with the Starks and slept on the bottom bunk in Robb's bedroom. They got along well, he and Robb, and the younger kids adored him, so those weekends were always good.

When he arrived at school, Robb found that the campus was already teeming with students. He spotted some of his friends from the hockey team sitting at a picnic table in the outdoor common area and joined them. When the bell rang, Robb steeled himself for the day ahead. At least tomorrow is Friday, he thought.

• • •

Theon had what was undoubtedly the longest day of his life. Trying to navigate the hallways of a such a huge high school proved to be much more difficult than he imagined it would be.

When the final bell rang, Theon felt a wave of relief wash over him. He was glad to be free, even if that meant going home, even if he stubbornly refused to think of it as home. His parents had made him leave their spacious house on the ocean, with bay windows facing the water and a rocky path leading down to the shore and not another person for miles and miles around, all for what? For a small apartment in a big city crawling with people. 'A loft' his parents had called it when they first broke the news to him. 'Time for a fresh start, don't you think?' Well he did not think and he never would think, but instead of telling them that he'd turned on his heel, stomped to his bedroom, and stayed there until the next morning.

Ten city blocks and four flights of stairs later, Theon arrived at the 'loft'. He tried the knob and found that it wouldn't budge before he remembered the key in his pocket. They never had to lock the doors back home. He let himself in, dropped his backpack onto the ground, and kicked off his shoes. The apartment was quiet, but Theon could hear cars passing and people shouting and horns blaring outside. Desperate to drown out the sounds of the city, he dug his iPod out of his back pocket and turned the volume up to the highest setting.

With deafening music blasting in his ears, he padded into the kitchen where he rummaged about for something to eat. They had only been there for two days and his parents hadn't had time to go to the supermarket, so he settled for a bit of his mother's cereal, reminiscent of sawdust, and the last dash of milk from a half-gallon jug he found in the refrigerator. Theon hopped up onto the counter and proceeded to eat his soggy bowl of sawdust.

He has to admit, the apartment isn't so bad. It is spacious and airy at least, or it would be when they unpacked all the boxes that are stacked everywhere. The kitchen and living room were separated only by a tall island. The ceilings here were high and the sunlight streaming in through the windows was pleasant. Aside from this common area, there were four other rooms; one tiny bathroom, Theon's bedroom, his parents' master bedroom, and their adjoining bathroom. So it could have been worse, but an apartment is an apartment no matter what you call it, and Theon remained bitter.

When he finished, he carelessly tossed his dishes into the sink and went back to the entry way. He took his textbooks from his bag and went to his room where he sprawled out across his bed. He began with the intention of doing his homework, but was sound asleep within minutes.


End file.
